Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar says media and political delegations can play an important role in conveying the reality of events in Syria to Western audiences, during meeting with delegation of visiting journalists
Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat explains that many opposition factions are still deciding whether to participate in the talks in the Kazakh capital, claiming that some parties believe Russia isn’t pulling its weight in enforcing the cease-fire deal
It will be up to the armies of Syria, Iraq and Russia to defend the interests of their people by preventing the breakup of Middle Eastern geography for benefit of Western energy interests, Ali Hashem writes for pro-regime Al-Watan
Opposition site Alsouria Net reports on attack which targeted convoy of around 5,000 people who had been granted safe passage out of the besieged Shiite villages
Moscow’s behavior will further complicate the Syrian issue, opposition says, after Russia doubled down on its support for the Assad regime following the sarin gas attack earlier this month
Russia considers fighting terrorism and a successful political solution in Syria as its key goals, says Kremlin spokesman, adding that calls to withdraw Russian support from the Assad regime are short-sighted, Syrian government media reports
Activists claim scores of people are being killed in Idleb and Hama by the Russian air force in retaliation for the U.S. missile strike on the Shayrat air base late last week, opposition media office writes
Russian military would respond with direct action in the event its units are threatened in Syria, Duma defense committee deputy tells Russian media in a warning to the Trump administration
Al-Hayat columnist Ibrahim Hamidi highlights four observations in the aftermath of the first American strike on Syrian army positions, explaining that the coming days will show which of two tracks will be taken by Russian and the U.S. in response — military escalation between the two superpowers, or a renewed interest in a military-political agreement
Vladimir Putin is a game-maker and a surprise-organizer. His counterpart in the Oval Office wants to be too
Well informed sources claim authorities are keeping humanitarian groups under surveillance after the government stopped operations of 370 NGOs for alleged ties to terrorism, including some major international organizations, opposition Sada al-Sham writes
Political representatives in south Damascus voice their rejection of an agreement between rebels and Iran which will see the exchange of fighters and their families from areas surrounding the capital and Idleb, opposition outlet All4Syria reports
In a special op-ed for The Syrian Observer, the coordinator-general of the High Negotiations Committee explains that untying the Syrian knot will require isolating external influence on the Syrian scene, a transition with the establishment of a new political system, and the firm application of international law in order to hold war criminals to account
President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to Croatian newspaper Vecernji List published Thursday, in which he reflects on six years of conflict, the negotiation process and the fight against terrorism. The following is the full text as published by government news agency SANA
Media activist Mohammed al-Saheli claims Russians stationed at the Hmeimim airbase in Lattakia denied Iran century-long rights to obtain land in the Qandil Valley in exchange for power supply to the coastal areas, opposition outlet writes
Moscow tries to bail out Assad regime in statement claiming Syrian warplanes struck a facility for making toxic bombs, resulting in a fallout which killed scores of civilians in Idleb province on Tuesday, Al-Araby al-Jadeed reports
Opposition figure tweets call to rally representatives from Syria’s political and military spectra to discuss possible alternatives to the political process after a regime chemical attack casts doubt over progress at recent negotiations, All4Syria reports
Rather than making concessions or political gestures, by committing large-scale massacres the Assad regime is further raising the stakes and the political cost for the West of refusing to restore ties, Jihad Yazigi explains
Zaman al-Wasl profiles the life of the former deputy defense minister and brother-in-law of Bashar al-Assad, whose proximity to and life’s work for the regime did little to earn him wide respect among the ruling family
Amid heightened discontent among loyalists due to rising soldier deaths and poor social services, the wife of President Bashar al-Assad breaks with regime’s usual machismo image to appear in a video promoting the values of motherhood in Aleppo’s crippled districts
